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Why these 4 ASX shares have rocketed higher today

After a strong start the S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) has unfortunately given back its early gains and finds itself down almost 0.1% to 5,757 points in afternoon trade.

Despite this drop there are four shares which have still managed to climb significantly higher during trade today. Here's why:

After a strong start the S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) has unfortunately given back its early gains and finds itself down almost 0.1% to 5,757 points in afternoon trade.

Despite this drop there are four shares which have still managed to climb significantly higher during trade today. Here’s why:

Aconex Ltd(ASX: ACX) shares have rallied again, this time by a further 6% to $3.98. The software-as-a-service company’s shares have now climbed around 40% since hitting a low of $2.87 at the start of the month. Its shares may look expensive on paper at 71x estimated FY 2017’s earnings, but I believe the company has strong long-term growth prospects that could make it worthy of sticking with.

Nick Scali Limited(ASX: NCK) shares have climbed 11% to $7.12 after the furniture retailer smashed its guidance when it reported profit after tax growth of 44.7% to $20.5 million. A key highlight in my opinion was the company’s same store sales growth of 10.1%. Pleasingly, management advised that the second half has started just as strongly.

Paladin Energy Ltd(ASX: PDN) has surged higher by 6.5% to 16.5 cents. This brings the uranium producer’s year-to-date return to a staggering 91%. Uranium shares have been on fire this year as prices for the metal rally off their recent 12-year lows. The driver for this has been Japan’s plan to bring more nuclear reactors online and major uranium producer Kazatomprom cutting production by 10% this year.

South32 Ltd(ASX: S32) shares have jumped 5% to $2.69 despite there being no news out of the mining company. Today’s gain is likely to be attributable to further rises in commodity prices. Thanks to its diverse mining operations I believe that South32 is one of the better options in the mining sector for investors.

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Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of ACONEX FPO. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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